School Pictures

School picture will be Friday, September 30, 2011

Be ready to smile....

Spelling Words, Week of September 26, 2011

The following are the spelling words for the week of September 26, 2011.  Spelling Test 1.5 will be Friday, September 30.

1. super

2. fastest

3. pass

4. since

5. silly

6. saved

7. mice

8. ice

9. cents

10. space

11. seven

12. sick

13. price

14. silver

15. race

16. taste

17. sometimes

18.  Sunday

19.  place

20.  scissors

Spelling Packet Instructions

1. Write each word 5 times

2. ABC order

3. Pick 10 words.  Use each in a separate sentence

DUE FRIDAY 9/30/11

SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR!!!

Our shopping time for the Scholastic Book Fair is Wednesday, October 5, 2011 from 9:00-9:40 AM.  Parents are encouraged to join us as we shop for new books.

The Book Fair will also have an evening shopping time on October 11, 2011 from 5:00-7:00PM, before the October PTA Meeting.

Hope to see you there!

Interesting Links for The Ballad of Mulan

Terra Cotta soldiers at the tomb of the first Qin Emperor

Click here for the vocabulary game that goes with the vocabulary words for "The Ballad of Mulan".

Click here for more information on the Terra Cotta Warriors

Click here for more information on the Great Wall of China

Spelling Words, Week of 9/19/11

The following is the spelling words for the week of 9/19/11.

The spelling packet will be due on Friday, 9/23/11.

1. came

2. made

3. main

4. Friday

5. shape

6. tray

7. agree

8. meal

9. deal

10. deeper

11. time

12. kite

13. pie

14. hold

15. home

16. told

17. phone

18. blue

19. cute

20. used

DIRECTIONS

1. Write each word 5 times

2. ABC order

3. Pick 10 words.  Use each in a separate sentence

"The $64,000 Guess"

On Thursday the class started worked on the literary skill of inferring.  This skill tends to send fear into the hearts and minds of students and teachers alike.  Inferring is simply a difficult skill for students to see, mainly because they are having to make an educated guess, and the answer is not explicitly stated in the text.

When I taught 5th grade, the students would groan when I said the target skill for the week was inferring. I went along with the feeling, knowing that I had always heard from peers that inferring was a hard skill to teach.  Last year, however, when I moved to third grade I had one of those "lightbulb moments".  I realized that inferring is something our brains do constantly and naturally, its just we don't recognize that cognitive process as inferring.  This de-mystified the process for me, and enabled me to teach the skill much more easily, and my students were able to master the inferring skill.

Normally, when we infer in text we are thinking about a characters actions or motives.  A typical inference question could be:

• "How is (the character) feeling when they made that decision?"   
• "Why did (the character) do that?
• "What do you think (the character) will say?

We may also infer about the direction the plot will take, or how the plot influences the characters.

• "What will happen when (certain event) occurs?"
• "How will (the character) change because of the (certain event)?"
• "How did (the events) cause (the character) to behave?"

As you can see, inferring requires analysis of events and character far past the level students are expected to do prior to third grade.  Inferring, however, links naturally to several other skills, such as making judgements, drawing conclusions, cause and effect, and characterization.  I will focus on how all of these skills come together to create strong reading comprehension.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!
Mr. Nix

Take Home Folders

Take home folders go home today.  In them you will find Mr. Nix's work in the green folder, and Mrs. Allison's work in the purple folder.  Also attached is a progress report for grades up to 9/15/11.  The official mid-term progress report will go home next Friday 9/23/11.

Please review the work in the folders and sign the progress report.  All students work needs to be returned to school.  Some items like assessments will be filed in the student's portfolio, while other will be sent back home.

Thank you for your assistance and support.

The Ballad of Mulan

Everybody has probably seen the Disney movie "Mulan".  The movie was based on an actual Chinese legend, "The Ballad of Mulan".  This week we will begin working with the legend of Mulan and how to apply the literary skill of inference to analyze why Mulan chose to do what she did, and the motivations behind her actions.  We will also compare and contrast the legend of Mulan with the movie.  Students will see that movies sometimes are very different form the stories they are based on.

Our study of inference will begin on Thursday with our next touchstone text, "Jin Woo" by Eve Bunting.  In "Jin Woo", a young boy, Davey, worries how his parents adopting a new child form Korea will effect his life.  We will use story clues to help us infer Davey's feelings, as well as what his parents are feeling.  Then, we will use the techniques of inferring to analyze the story "The Ballad of Mulan".

Types of Reading Tests

There are many types of tests/assessments given throughout the school year. The District Benchmark, FAIR, DRA, and FCAT are all examples of assessments that are standardized and occur throughout the year.  While those tests are important, the bulk of testing your child will take will be in the form of teacher-made classroom tests that occur more frequently.  Those tests are selection tests, and 5 question tests.

On Wednesday we will be having our first selection test for the story "Cliff Hanger".  On Wednesday we will also have a "5 question test" on the skill of cause and effect.  The selection test is something your child CAN study for, by reviewing the review worksheet and re-reading the story.  Selection Tests are also open book, so the students cab refer back to the text when they need to.

The "5 question test" is different.  It is a "cold" assessment, or an assessment in which the reading is not pre-taught.  These tests help me see how the student can transfer the skill to a reading they haven't seen before, just like they will be expected to do on FCAT.  Reviewing the post, "How to Help your Child With Cause and Effect" can be helpful in preparing for the 5 question test.

Spelling Words, Week of September 12, 2011

The following are the spelling words for the week of 9/12/11:

1. pond

2. luck

3. rot

4. lot

5. rub

6. does

7. drum

8. sock

9. hunt

10. crop

11. sock

12. hop

13. much

14. dodge

15. dusk

16. won

Spelling Packet Instructions

 1. Write each word 5 times

 2. ABC order

 3. Pick 10 words.  Use each word in 10 separate sentences.

DUE FRIDAY, 9/16/11

This Week's Touchstone Text

What is a touchstone text?  It is a storybook that can be used as a tool to teach a complex literacy skill in a grade appropriate way.  Even though a storybook is sometimes seen as being less text rich as a chapter book, they still can have richly developed characters and complex plots.  Touchstone texts are usually picked for the way they can be used to introduce or reinforce a literacy skill.

This week's touchstone text was "Blaze and the Forest Fire" by CW Anderson.  I used it to introduce comparing and contrasting similar texts as well as re-teach characterization.  Billy, the main character in "Blaze and the Forest Fire" had many similar character traits to Axel, the main character in "Cliff Hanger".

"Blaze and the Forest Fire" was originally published in 1938, but is a timeless story about a boy and his horse, that bravely warn the community of a forest fire.  Billy's actions mirrored Axel's calm, brave actions in "Cliff Hanger" and led to a very good discussion of character in text.

Spelling Words, Week of September 5, 2011

Below is this week's spelling words.  The Spelling Packet was assigned today and should be in your student's home folder (orange AM class, yellow PM class).


1. grass
2. fact
3. else
4. kitten
5. think
6. will
7. drop
8. summer
9. spring
10. plus
11. stand
12. dance
13. well
14. sunny
15. soon

Spelling Packet Instructions:

1. Write each word 5 times

2. ABC order

3. Pick 10 words and write a sentence using each of the 10 words (10 sentences total)

DUE Friday, September 9, 2011

CLASSROOM TOUR

View from the classroom entrance

Welcome to Room #74.  If you didn't get a chance to visit during Orientation or Open House here is a look at the classroom.  If you did get a chance to visit, this post will explain the set-up of the classroom and how will we use the displays throughout the year to support the reading instruction.  Enjoy!

Reading Notebooks and Writing Journals

The students' Reading Notebooks and their Writing Journals are located near the front door so the students can easily access them.  In the red bin are the Reading Notebooks for my AM class, and in the blue bins are the Reading Notebooks for my PM class.

Monthly Calendar

Also near the front door is the Monthly Calendar.  This calendar shows important events like early release days and resources.  It matches the monthly calendar I send home at the beginning of the month.

The Sunshine State Standards we are covering (changes weekly)

The standards we are covering for the week are posted behind the group work center.  It shows the Sunshine State Standards we are working on.  The Sunshine State Standards correlate to the FCAT 2.0 assessment the students take in April.  Staying focused on the standards help us prepare for the FCAT.

The Classroom Library

One of the most important areas of the classroom is the classroom library.  This is where students can select books of their choosing to read during Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) everyday.  The classroom library helps us meet the 25 book reading goal.

Another view of the Classroom Library

Above the classroom library is a poster display of the different genres of fiction.

Reference Cart

On the media cart next to the classroom library is our reference materials.  We have 8 sets of encyclopedias for student research.  They really come in handy when we write reports.

Text Features display and computers

This display shows students the different types of text features they will see when they read non-fiction text.  Understanding how non-fiction text works is key to comprehension of that type of text.  Our classroom computers are also located in this area.

Types of Text Structure

This display shows the different types of text structure.  Understanding text structure also aids in understanding higher level text.  We have already studied cause and effect in fiction.

Character reference wall

This display shows different elements of character.  There are different types of conflicts a character faces in a plot.  We will also study how authors write rich, "rounded" characters and sometimes will have "flat", less developed characters.  A reference to adjectives used in describing characters is also provided.

Teacher work table, set up for small reading groups.

I don't have a desk in my classroom.  I like the students to feel they have access to me at all times, and I rarely have time to sit a desk anyway :)  This table is set up so I can work with a student independently or have a have several students for small group instruction.

25 Book Goal charts

Moving back towards the door, there is the 25 book goal display.  This is updated every 4 weeks.














Well, that's pretty much it.  I hope you enjoyed the tour.  The only thing missing was THE MOST IMPORTANT PART of the room, the students!  

SEPTEMBER CALENDAR

Click here for the September Calendar.

Helping Your Child With the Reading Skill of Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is one of the more difficult reading skills for students to see.  Because a fictional narrative is a continuous stream of causes and effects, it can sometimes be difficult to see the cause and effect relationships in a story and easily "see" what the causes for specific effects are.  

One helpful way to see cause and effect is to look for "clue word" such as and, because, and so.

For example
Tim forgot his math book, so he was unable to complete his homework.  

The word so signals the cause and effect relationship.  The part of the sentence before the word so is the cause, and the part of the sentence after so is the effect.

Kelly studied her spelling words and she got an A on the test.

The word and signals the cause and effect relationship.  The part of the sentence before and is the cause, and the part of the sentence after and is the effect.

The signal word because is a little different....

Keegan was hungry because he skipped lunch.

The word because signals the cause and effect relationship.  The part of the sentence before because is the effect, and the part of the sentence after because is the cause.